Aurangzeb granted 300 bighas land for temple at Chitrakut in Ramzan

It was the month of Ramzan, 334 years ago, when Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had granted 330 bighas of land for the Balaji Temple at Chitrakut in present day Uttar Pradesh.

In this holy month, the official decree was issued and the document is in possession of the present pujari Ram Naresh. On the 19th of Islamic month of Ramzan, this firman was written in order to ensure that the idol gets the 'bhog' with the earning of the land.

In the firman, which is available with Ram Naresh, Aurangzeb writes, 'Sant Balak Das gets 330 bigha lagaani zameen of eight villages viz. Hinauta, Chitrakot, Devkhari, Raudra, Siria, Madri, Jarwa and Doharia. The firman written in Persian says that apart from this land, the lagaan of Re 1 should be given per day from Kini Paroshtha pargana. Balakdas of Kalinjar Pargana in Allahabad Suba gets this land.' Chitrakoot is the famous temple town in Uttar Pradesh. Lord Rama spent 11-1/2 years here. It has great religious significance for Hindus.

Muslim girls in an ancient mosque: Photos of Ramadan and Eid preparation

Here Palestinian Muslim girls are seen reading Holy Quran at the ancient Sheikh Nasrallah Mosque on the West Bank village of Salem near Nablus.

The other is the scene from Damascus Gate on Lailatul Qadr. People in a mood of celebration in Jerusalem.

The photo below is also from the same region. Here the Muslims are seen praying at an Israeli checkpost while trying to reach Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem for Lailatul Qadr. A unique photo is from Malaysia where women are seen buying flowers ahead of Eid to decorate their houses. That's new for me. Really cool, isn't it!

Ramzan photos: From India to Indonesia

The first photograph is from Kashmir: A young man offering Namaz under the tree on the roadside in the outskirts of Sri Nagar.

I really liked this Yasin Dar photo. Just seeing the photo one can feel the peace he must be experiencing in the ibaadat.

Mannequins in the second photo have their heads covered, in accordance with the local culture.

The photograph is from a shop in Jakarta [Indonesia]. Jameel Ahmed reads the Holy Quran in his shop in Hyderabad.

He sells Islamic texts and other religious literature. That's a familiar scene in any walled City.


The last is the photo from America. Iftaar in a Muslim house where families of expatriate Muslims from Asia and other parts, break their fast.

The Holy month Ramzan, as we say in Urdu, (many prefer saying Ramadan) is now coming to an end. And Id is round the corner.

I am not sure still about what am I going to do--going home or just being here and taking a day's off on Id!

Defiled by Dalit's touch, Muslims perform Hindu man's last rites

'Defiled' by a Dalit's touch, the relatives of Rameshwar refused to cremate him. For three days the body kept lying in wait for the funeral.

At last, Muslims in the town (Khandwa) that is yet to recover from the recent riot, came forward to perform the last rites of the elderly man. Rameshwar's kin said that they could not perform his last rites because Dalits ('sweepers') had touched it.
And if somebody touches a 'polluted' body, he also gets polluted, said the community leader. For getting cleansed the person then has to embark on a pilgrimage.

Also, the community fines such people who touch a 'defiled' body. Rameshwar, a Gond, had died in a road accident on September 29.

On Gandhi Jayanti, the body was still waiting for funeral. Despite administration trying hard to convince his family members to perform the funeral, nobody was willing to do it. Muslims decided to come forward. The local Muslim society leader Ahmad Patel offered to cremate as per the Sanatan traditions.

However, the deceased's family insisted that he should be buried. (There is custom in several Hindu communities to bury their dead). And the Muslims conducted the last rites. All this happened in Khandwa town in Madhya Pradesh, which had witnessed a communal clash only recently and the normaly hadn't returned completely in the town.

The Iftaar season & Kashmiri Pundits host after 19 yrs

After a period of 19 years, an iftaar was hosted by a Kashmiri Pundit at Kralkhud in Habba Kadal (Sri Nagar).

The State president of Lok Janashakti Party Sanjay Saraf had organised the iftaar. Lok Janshakti's national chief Ram Vilas Paswan also attended it.

It's a healthy sign, surely for the Valley. Meanwhile, outside the Valley, iftars are being organised all over the country. The BJP leaders are also hosting iftaars. Though these are often political , there is a social imortance of these iftaars also.

The gesture goes down well with the other community. Many Hindus and people belonging to other religions organise the iftars just as a sort of goodwill gensture for fellow Muslim traders, workers et al.

On the left is photograph of Lalu Prasad Yadav, at an Iftaar in Patna. Meanwhile, after several years the Rashtrapati Bhawan organised an Iftaar. All these years when APJ Abdul Kalam was in President's House, no iftaar was held. The new Prez Pratibha Patil has hosted one recently.